Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe

18 reviews

katrinaburch's review against another edition

challenging dark informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

4.5

This book is one that should be on anyone's list who has an interest in the Troubles. It is well researched and well written. I was a teenager when the Good Friday Agreement was signed and while I knew a little at the point that was going on, I have since learned more through books like Edward Rutherfurd's Dublin and Morgan Llywellen's The Irish Century series. But those are both fiction, this is narrative non-fiction. Yes, the author does state that it doesn't begin to cover all that is needed to know about one of the most complex conflicts in the world, but it's a start. 

I did have to knock it down a star for the author not using footnotes and ONLY using endnotes. As a historian, this drives me nuts. Endnotes are for your sources, footnotes are for extra information!

Overall, it's a very good book and should be read. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Religious bigotry, Murder, Gaslighting, and Classism

Minor: Alcoholism, Child death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicide, Torture, Excrement, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

ketsy95's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Pedophilia and Sexual violence

blorgons's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Physical abuse, Police brutality, and Classism

Moderate: Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Suicide attempt, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

bigheadcam's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

An absolutely incredible, fascinating, and perfectly paced narrative nonfiction on the Troubles. Radden Keefe is very careful to specify that this book is not "historical" nonfiction because a lot of the information in this book is derived from oral accounts. He did his best to reconcile these accounts by corroborating them with more official records and reports, but the Troubles are not well documented and were a truly chaotic time.

Radden Keefe's writing is objective and informative while also remaining gripping and maintaining an excellent storytelling tone. I was consistently impressed with how well he kept every subject covered interesting, and how he manages to switch contexts without losing the reader or making it jarring.

Thanks to John Oliver for recommending this on Hot Ones. I'd happily do the same for anyone with an interest in history, radical ideologies, revolution, and modern struggles for independence as well as the cost of said struggles.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

timesnewroman12point's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Alcohol, and War

qqjj's review against another edition

challenging dark informative sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Confinement, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Colonisation, and War

laurenkimoto's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

3.5

Going into this my knowledge of the troubles was limited to Derry Girls and that small plot point in Criminal Minds, so to start I was a little confused (and I’m still not 100% confident) but overall was explained in an interesting and clear way. 

The audiobook gets a bonus 0.5 star (not included) because it is narrated by an Irish man and every time he said “poor” it added a week to my life. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Cancer, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

imds's review against another edition

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Self harm, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Colonisation, and War

travisppe's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.5

Very interesting narrative, almost reads like a novel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Cancer, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation

rcsreads's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

Say Nothing is advertised as though it's a true crime but the case of Jean McConville's disappearance is just a loose binding to what is essentially a history of The Troubles. From other reviews I've read a lot of people go into this expecting a true crime novel and are disappointed. But if you go into it as a narrative nonfiction history then it's incredibly readable and well written. Patrick Radden Keefe has clearly done his research and, mainly, stays impartial. You will kind of hate Gerry Adams by the end though!
 .
 I think this would be a good introduction to The Troubles for people who weren't around for this particular part of history, or just as a more detailed look if most of your knowledge came from Newsround in the 90's.
 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail